Keeping an eye on your stove top seems easy enough, but a fire is not only possible, it is common.

"Cooking-related fires are the leading cause of residential fires in the United States and in our area," Euclid Fire Department Platoon Chief Will Anderson said. "If you keep an eye on things they're the most preventable."

This past week Euclid Fire with the help of Willowick and Wickliffe departments fought two fires that were started because food was left unattended on a stove.

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Each home had around $10,000 in damage caused by the smoke the fires produced.

Referencing United States Fire Administration statistics, he said the problem tends to concern older adults.

"People forget they have food on the stove and they leave the house, they're over medicated or they simply fall asleep. It can happen, it does happen."

He said the worst thing to do would be to pick up an ignited pan of grease and put it under water. Because grease and water do not mix, the fire will only intensify -- to double or triple.

He also said not to use flour. Instead try placing another pan on top of the flame.

"If you try to extinguish a fire and you are unsuccessful make sure you get out of the house right away," Anderson said.

He said products like StoveTop FireStop and Auto-Out rest above a stove in a range hood or on the bottom of a microwave and will release a chemical that will put out a stove fire.

He said having an extinguisher nearby is always a good idea.

"I was on a call where a woman was cooking for her husband and her clothes caught on fire," Anderson said. "You have to be careful working with a gas or even electric stove of the dangers that could present themselves."